Emergency signal for M2M devices

Abstract

A method includes receiving, at a server connected to a network, a plurality of emergency alerts from a plurality of devices connected to the network. The method also includes analyzing, by the server, the plurality of emergency alerts to determine an emergency type of each of the plurality of emergency alerts. The method includes categorizing, by the server, the plurality of emergency alerts based on the emergency type of each of the plurality of emergency alerts. The method includes prioritizing a first category of the plurality of emergency alerts and consolidating the plurality of emergency alerts of the first category into a consolidated alert. The method includes causing the consolidated alert to be provided to an emergency responder.

What is claimed: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 receiving, at a server connected to a network, a plurality of emergency alerts from a plurality of devices connected to the network; 
 analyzing, by the server, the plurality of emergency alerts to determine an emergency type of each of the plurality of emergency alerts; 
 categorizing, by the server, the plurality of emergency alerts based on the emergency type of each of the plurality of emergency alerts; 
 consolidating the plurality of emergency alerts of a first category into a consolidated alert; 
 consolidating the plurality of emergency alerts of a second category into a second consolidated alert; 
 prioritizing the second category lower than the first category based on at least the emergency type indicated by the first category being ranked higher than the emergency type indicated by the second category; and 
 causing the consolidated alert to be provided to a recipient at a first transport QoS level before causing the second consolidated alert to be provided to the recipient at a lower transport QoS level than the first transport QoS level. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying a subset of the plurality of devices from which the first category of the plurality of emergency alerts was received; 
 requesting, from at least one of the subset of the plurality of devices, additional data regarding the emergency; 
 receiving, from the at least one of the subset of the plurality of devices, a supplemental message indicative of the additional data; and 
 providing the additional data to the recipient. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein causing the consolidated alert to be provided to the recipient comprises providing the consolidated alert via a control plane of the network and wherein providing the additional data to the recipient comprises providing the additional data via a user plane of the network. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein categorizing the plurality of emergency alerts comprises, for each of the plurality of emergency alerts, identifying the recipient based on at least one of the emergency type and a location associated with a respective one of the plurality of devices from which at least one of the plurality of emergency alerts of the first category was received. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 4 , wherein identifying the recipient comprises identifying a plurality of recipients within a geographic region including the location. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of devices comprises a machine-to-machine device. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the emergency type comprises at least one of a fire, an accident, a flood, a break-in, a terrorist threat, a robbery, a kidnapping, a poisoning, a health emergency, a murder, an explosion, or a tornado. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of emergency alerts are received on a control plane of the network. 
     
     
       9. A method comprising:
 receiving, at a server connected to a network, emergency alerts from a plurality of devices connected to the network; 
 analyzing, by the server, the emergency alerts to determine an emergency type of each of the emergency alerts; 
 determining that a subset of the emergency alerts is for an approved emergency type; 
 prioritizing a second category of the subset, lower than a first category of the subset based on at least an emergency indicated by the first category being ranked higher than a second emergency indicated by the second category; 
 consolidating the first category into a first consolidated alert and consolidating the second category into a second consolidated alert; and 
 causing the first consolidated alert to be provided to a recipient at a first transport QoS level before causing the second consolidated alert to be provided to the recipient at a lower transport QoS level than the first transport QoS level. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein at least one of the emergency alerts is not part of the subset, the method further comprising providing a message to at least one of the plurality of devices from which the at least one of the emergency alerts was received, wherein the message indicates that the at least one of the emergency alerts was rejected. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 9 , wherein at least one of the devices is a machine-to-machine device.